Tuesday, May 18th

7:00 AM

Registration Opens

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM

Regional Director Networking Breakfast

(Pre-Function Area-in front of registration)

Come meet your regional directors Kim Kiener, West; Tom Nicholas, Central; Sandra Burton, East for a networking breakfast.

8:00 AM - 9:45 AM

General Session

(Colorado Ballroom)

The general session will start with opening remarks from Julia Hamm, including an announcement on Utility Solar Interest Groups, a new SEPA member initiative that will be launched at USC.  The session will then transition into a moderated discussion with executives from country's leading solar-integrated municipal, cooperative and investor-owned utilities in the country, discussing solar-utility outlooks, strategies, and opportunities.

Facilitator:
Julia Hamm, Executive Director, SEPA

Executive Panelists:

• John Baker, Chief Strategy Officer, Austin Energy
• Luis Reyes, CEO, Kit Carson Electric Coop
• Alfredo Matos, VP, Renewables and Energy Solutions, Public Service Electric & Gas Company
• Paul Bonavia, Chairman, President and CEO, Tucson Electric Power
• Karen Hyde, VP, Rates and Regulatory Affairs, Xcel Energy

9:45 AM - 10:30 AM

Morning Break in Sponsor Rooms

10:30 AM - 12:15 PM

Industry Sessions

(Colorado Ballroom)

Solar industry representatives will participate in two 50-minute panels (four companies each) discussing the interface between the solar and utility industries and issues in a moderated panel.  After 50-minutes, the industry representatives will switch rooms to present the panel again to the other audience.

Moderators:

Jennifer Decesaro & Charlie Hemmeline, U.S. Department of Energy

Industry Companies:

Abengoa Solar · Applied Materials · BP Solar · GE Energy · Petra Solar · Iberdrola · SunEdison · SunPower

12:15 PM - 1:45 PM

Lunch- SEPA Utility Rankings Award

(Colorado Ballroom)

The results of SEPA's third-annual Top Ten Utility Solar Integration Ranking Survey and Report will be released and the utilities with the most megawatts and watts per customers will be given awards at a luncheon presentation.

1:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Concurrent Sessions

High Penetration Solar - Grid Integration

(Denver Ballroom 4-6)

Continued solar technology price reductions coupled with increased policy and environmental pressures have resulted in thousands of megawatts of PV and CSP project announcements in the last year.  However, integrating them into the electric grid, including generation, transmission and distribution will be a challenge technically and financially.  This session will include an overview of the DOE Solar Vision Study, transmission and distribution operational issues, as well as market issues from the ISO level. 

Moderator: Kevin Lynn, U.S. Department of Energy

Speakers:

• Mike Grant, Duke Energy
• Robert Margolis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Vladimir Chadliev, NV Energy   
• Alex Ma, PJM Interconnection 
• Elaine Sison-Lebrilla, Sacramento Municipal Utility District             

Distributed Solutions: Smart Grid

(Denver Ballroom 1-3)

As utilities are moving forward with smart grid initiatives, the interface between efficiency, demand-response, solar, and storage will begin to converge.  How will utilities coordinate the operations and management of these converging technologies?  How will they handle and process the vast data streams, both internally at the utility, but also externally through a customer interface?  Can the smart grid improve the ability to manage high penetration, distributed PV?  This session will discuss how a fully integrated smart grid may change the integration, economics and operation of distributed photovoltaics.

Moderator: Ben Kroposki, National Renewable Energy Laboratory         

Speakers:

• Phil Smithers, Arizona Public Service
• Maryl Freestone, Commonwealth Edison
• Steve Willard, PNM Resources 

3:15 PM - 4:00 PM

Afternoon Break in Sponsor Rooms

4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Concurrent Sessions

Centralized Solutions - Project Issues

(Denver Ballroom 4-6)

Centralized PV and CSP projects have a longer path to actual construction than distributed PV.  Utilities manage the procurement process, assess competing technology options, and look for successful partners that can move projects from start to finish on time and on budget.  But even once a construction partner or PPA is signed, non-price factors such as siting, permitting, and financing can impact progress significantly.  This session will look at the centralized project level issues that impact their progress and the outlook for improving their success.

Moderator: Jordan Macknick, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Speakers:           

• Ryan Fair, Florida Power & Light
• Darren Deffner, Pacific Gas & Electric
• Jerald Hunter, Salt River Project
• Lee Boughey, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association
• Kent Scholl, Xcel Energy

Distributed Solutions - Project Issues

(Denver Ballroom 4-6)

Distributed projects, both customer, third-party, and utility owned, have a common goal - successfully construct and interconnect a small to medium-sized PV system on the distribution network.  This session will look at a range of issues from roof leasing, incentive program design and management, the engineering perspective of how to plan for and interconnect solar projects on a distribution system to lessons learned on how to handle a sudden dramatic increase in distributed generation from a utility's perspective.

Moderator: John Hargrove, NV Energy 

Speakers:           

• Hawk Asgeirsson, DTE Energy
• Mark Dougherty, Long Island Power Authority
• Mark Romito, Tucson Electric Power

6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Networking in Sponsor Rooms

Wednesday, May 19^th

(conference activities are open to Utility Employees ONLY)

Note: Wednesday will feature a more dynamic, dialogue oriented design with facilitated expert panel and audience discussion, both in the large session and small group environments.

7:00 AM

Registration Opens

7:00 AM - 8:30 AM

Working Group Roundtables

(Colorado Ballroom)

As announced the previous day, USC will begin the formation of Utility Solar Working Groups, a long-term program to develop topic-oriented dialogue and interaction among utility employees across the country.  This breakfast will be the kick-off face-to-face meeting to begin the working group formation and development.

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

General Session- Colorado State RES Experience Roundtable

(Colorado Ballroom)

Colorado passed a renewable energy standard through a public ballot initiative in November 2004, which was modified by the legislature in March 2007.  The RES currently requires 10-20% renewable energy by 2020, which applies to all three utility types to varying degrees, and which includes solar specific requirements.  This interactive session will feature panelists from four Colorado utilities who manage their utility's RES compliance strategy, and who will discuss their initial planning, project and program implementation, and other approaches to fulfilling Colorado's RES policy.

Facilitator:

• Kim Kiener, Regional Director, SEPA

Panelists:

• Kevin Pratt, Renewable Resources, Black Hills Energy
• Dan McClendon, General Manager, Delta-Montrose Electric Association
• Norm Weaver, Energy Services Engineer, Fort Collins Utilities
• Robin Kittel, Director of Regulatory Administration, Xcel Energy

10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

Morning Break in Sponsor Rooms

10:45 AM - 12:30 PM

Concurrent Sessions

Policy and Regulatory Issues

(Denver Ballroom 4-6)

This interactive session will discuss macro-level utility, state, and federal policies that impact a utility's approach to solar electricity integration, as well as strategies toward compliance. In particular, the session will focus discussions around loss margin and net metering; community sited solar; Feed-In-Tariffs and how they should be viewed relative to other solar project development mechanisms including competitive bidding, net energy metering and bi-lateral PPA negotiations; and the obstacles and lessons learned from purchasing RECs to fulfill RPS requirements.

 Facilitator: Kim Kiener, SEPA    

Panelists:                            

• Scott Seu, Hawaiian Electric Company
• John McCawley, PECO
• Tom Maclean, Puget Sound Energy
• Obadiah Bartholomy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District
• Denise Smith, Tucson Electric Power

Program Management

(Denver Ballroom 1-3)

This interactive session focuses on solar program management and customers, ranging from program design and marketing to customer management and public relations. This session has excellent and very knowledgeable panelists from around the USA; from Michigan to Florida to Colorado to New Jersey to California. Panelists will discuss issues including customer experience/management, marketing and public relations, program adjustments and public reactions.

Facilitators:

• Tom Nicholas, SEPA
• Pam Newell, Xcel Energy            

Panelists:

• Ray Zoia, DTE Energy
• Jennifer Szaro, Orlando Utilities Commission  
• Stuart Stott, Public Service Electric & Gas Company
• Steve Jaffe, San Diego Gas & Electric

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Lunch- Markets and Cost Update

(Colorado Ballroom)

Solar markets have been changing rapidly in the last few years - falling prices, increasing supply, more megawatts, larger systems, and new business models.  Paula Mints, a featured solar industry analyst around the world, will provide an overview of the market for photovoltaic and CSP technologies, including pricing, sales, and market application breakdowns, and offer a look forward through 2013.

Speaker:
Paula Mints, Director, Energy Practice, Navigant Consulting

2:00 PM - 3:45 PM

Concurrent Sessions

Utility Solar Business Models

(Denver Ballroom 4-6)

This interactive session is an extension of SEPA's two year Utility Solar Business Models project, which focuses on how the utility can develop value in the solar marketplace.  Questions to be discussed will include: What drives utilities towards innovation over the short- and long-term? What innovative programs are being developed? How have these programs been received by regulators/boards/councils, customers, and utility staff? and What makes a business model different from a program?

Facilitator: Mike Taylor, SEPA

Panelists:            

• Mike Migliore, AMP Ohio
• Owen Smith, Duke Energy
• Ed Regan, Gainesville Regional Utility
• David Rubin, Pacific Gas & Electric
• Dorothy Sosnowski, Portland General Electric

Grid Integration Technical Issues, Part I

(Denver Ballroom 1-3)

As distributed and centralized solar reaches higher levels of penetration on the grid, utilities realize opportunities to maximize the benefits and minimize the impacts.  There is over a billion dollars of recently funded research underway which is directed at smart grid and solar grid integration solutions. This interactive session will feature short summaries of key research activities.  The facilitated discussion will provide an opportunity for utilities to provide input and direction to the research to assure broad utility application.  This session will kick-off SEPA's Solar Grid Integration Interest Group, with an initial goal of organizing utility access to grid integration research as it proceeds.

Facilitator: Christy Herig, SEPA                 

Panelists:

• Margarett Jolly, Consolidated Edison
• Tom Key, Electric Power Research Institute
• Chris Wright, Florida Power & Light
• Robert Reedy, Florida Solar Energy Center  
• Nathan Liang, Hawaiian Electric Company
• Ben Kroposki, National Renewable Energy Laboratory         
• Mark Osborn, Portland General Electric
• Abraham Ellis, Sandia National Laboratories

3:45 PM - 4:30 PM

Afternoon Break in Sponsor Rooms

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Utility Workforce Development Issues

(Denver Ballroom 4-6)

This interactive session will feature a dialogue and discussion about future utility and solar workforce needs.  In this open forum, the panelists and audience will discuss the following issues: How is our company positioned to address upcoming retirements? What strategies are we using to recruit youth and address leadership succession planning? Do we forecast sufficient talent in the market to meet our technical needs? Does our staff have adequate skills to meet upcoming solar requirements? and What training do we anticipate needing to meet our future solar needs?

Facilitator: Sandra Burton, SEPA

Panelists:            

• Brian Pippin, Jacksonville Electric Authority
• Karisa Vlasek, Omaha Public Power District
• Roger Hemminghaus, Xcel Energy

Grid Integration Technical Issues, Part II (Continued)

(Denver Ballroom 1-3)

As distributed and centralized solar reaches higher levels of penetration on the grid, utilities realize opportunities to maximize the benefits and minimize the impacts.  There is over a billion dollars of recently funded research underway which is directed at smart grid and solar grid integration solutions. This interactive session will feature short summaries of key research activities.  The facilitated discussion will provide an opportunity for utilities to provide input and direction to the research to assure broad utility application.  This session will kick-off SEPA's Solar Grid Integration Interest Group, with an initial goal of organizing utility access to grid integration research as it proceeds.

Facilitator & Panelists (see above)

Thursday, May 20^th

7:30 AM - 5:00 PM

NREL High Penetration PV Workshop
(registration required, no fee to attend)

On May 20, 2010, in Denver, Colorado, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), will hold a workshop to examine the key technical issues and barriers associated with high PV penetration levels. Speakers and attendees will discuss high-priority research, development and demonstration activities and reach consensus-based agreements on specific new and potentially revised standards and codes. This workshop builds on the results of the DOE Workshop on High Penetration of Photovoltaic (PV) into the Distribution Grid held in February 2009 in Ontario, California.

Friday, May 21^st

8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

EPRI PV/Storage Inverter Communication Workshop
(registration required, no fee to attend)

In mid 2009, the DOE, EPRI, Sandia National Laboratories and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) worked together to form a collaborative project to study communication integration of advanced photovoltaic and storage systems. Participation in the project is open to anyone who wishes to participate and is free of charge. 

At prior meetings the participants have identified and prioritized advanced functions for grid-tied inverters.   Detailed technical work has been conducted through ongoing through weekly teleconferences.  The project work is being coordinated with NIST standards and NIST Priority Action Plans (PAPs), and will be making technical contributions to other industry standards activities, including the IEC, DNP3, and Smart Energy Profile.

On Friday morning, May 21^st, a half-day workshop will be held to continue the project work.   The workshop will include a presentation of the completed Phase 1 work, comments and discussion regarding the work, identification of extensions and new functions needed, and a round table prioritization of the new functions into a Phase 2 charter.   

You are invited and encouraged to attend this meeting.  This meeting date and venue have been selected to align with the NREL High Penetration PV Workshop.